Lesson 6: Plant Growth Experiment, A Nutrient Study

Purpose

Students will observe the different stages of a plant life cycle and determine the requirements needed for each step. Students will measure the effects on growth and specifically seed development when environmental variables are manipulated. They will create questions and identify methods of collecting data to gather answers. The students will analyze their findings and compile summarizing conclusions.

Time Needed

1.5 hours for initial experiment design, followed by 10 minutes 2-3 times a week for observation

Materials (For 30 Students)

  • 1 packet, Standard Wisconsin Fast Plant Seeds
  • 1 Fast Plant Growing System, including reservoir, wicking mat, wicks, styrofoam cells
  • Pelleted slow-release fertilizer (like Osmocote)
  • 1 ruler with centimeters, per group
  • 2-3 water droppers
  • Q-tip or paintbrush to transfer pollen, or purchase bee abdomen with Fast Plant Kit

Background Information

Plant growth, development, and reproduction are the result of the interaction between a plant’s genetics and environmental conditions. Depending on the growing environment, the amount of light, water, and nutrients vary, creating differences in how a plant might thrive. For example, a cactus has genetics that is well suited to live in a desert climate of full sun, little water, and minimal nutrients, whereas a fern (shade-loving, moisture-rich environment dweller) would have a hard time even surviving. By changing the environmental conditions for plant growth, students can observe changes in plant development for a particular species.

Students studying the variables affecting plant growth can develop authentic inquiry experiments using Fast Plants. Fast Plants were developed by scientists at the University of Wisconsin for specific use in a classroom environment. They are plants in the mustard family and are easy to grow. They are bred to grow in a styrofoam, self-watering wicking system and can be adapted to explore different questions. Questions might include nutrition studies, genetics, or light requirements. Fast plants complete their life cycle in only 28-36 days.

Focus Questions

  • What is a Fast Plant?
  • How is it different from other plants?
  • Describe the life cycle of a Fast Plant. How long do life cycles last?
  • What do plants require to complete a life cycle?
  • How do plants grow if they don’t get enough or too much of what they need to grow?

Lesson Slides

Lesson Six Slides

Click on “File” and then select “Make a Copy” of the lesson four slide deck to use with your youth.

image of lesson six slide cover

Scratching the Surface

Instructions

Place each step of the Fast Plant life cycle on the board. Have the students place the pictures in order and tell you what the plant needs in order to grow into the next stage, survive, and reproduce.

image of the different steps of the fast plant life cycle

 

Schoolyard Survey

  1. For students to understand the steps of the plant growth process, encourage them to look for examples of each stage of a plant’s life cycle in the schoolyard. 
  2. Have them bring their science journals to sketch or press each stage they find. 
  3. If your school doesn’t have a garden, investigate the wild places between cracks in the sidewalk or at the edge of the playground for a good sampling. Small weeds can be easily found, showing the seedling stage and often will be flowering. Many types of grass might also be flowering and setting seeds. Large trees might have produced fruit like maple helicopters or pines with cones. 
  4. Students might consider contrasting the type or quantity of plants they find in different environments (wet, shady, sunny spots) across the schoolyard.
  5. After observing the different stages of plant growth in the schoolyard, tell the students they will be growing unique plants called Wisconsin Fast Plants. They provide a wonderful way to observe the entire process of plant growth, from seed to seed in about 28-36 days. 
  6. Give students the enclosed handout (at the end of this lesson) illustrating Fast Plant growth and what they can expect when growing them. 
  7. Show the growing system that they will be planting in, explaining that the plastic shoebox container provides continuous water that is wicked into the soil by the felt and paper wicks. Tell students that they each will share one growing cube, called a quad, which has 4 growing cells.
Fast Plant Life Cycle

Use this handout to show the complete life cycle of the fast plants. You can also use it as a way to measure the amount of time between the different stages as your experiment grows.

Individual Steps of the Fast Plant Life Cycle 

Print and cut out the different steps of the fast plant life cycle. Have your students arrange them in the right order from seed to fruit.

Fast Plant Life Cycle Timelapse

Watch the life cycle of fast plants unfold right before your eyes. This timelapse by Wisconsin Fast Plants shows each step of plant growth and development from seed germination to flowering and fruit set.

Digging In

Instructions

There are numerous experiments a class could conduct with Fast Plants. This lesson will focus on the plant’s requirement of nutrients. Begin by asking students what they themselves need in order to grow and be strong. Many replies might suggest food, water, shelter, and space. Ask students why food is important. Food gives us not only the energy we need but also important vitamins and minerals that help our bodies function. Plants also require nutrients to grow and develop properly. Nutrients can be found naturally in the soil, through compost (decomposed organic matter), or through manufactured means like commercial fertilizer. We will be using a commercial fertilizer that can be found in the pelleted form at a local nursery, which slowly releases nutrients to the plant over time. The pelleted fertilizer is easy to handle and count.

  1. Ask the students to help you design an experiment that will demonstrate how nutrients contribute to plant growth. How much fertilizer should we use? What is our control? Your specific experiment may differ, but include treatments that have no fertilizer, some fertilizer, and a lot of fertilizer. One Fast Plant kit includes eight quads, which leaves room for eight treatments.
  2. Treatments (treatment number is listed in parentheses) might range from using (1) zero fertilizer pellets, (2) two pellets, (3) four pellets, (4) six pellets, (5) eight pellets (6) ten pellets, (7) twelve pellets and (8) fourteen pellets. Other nutrient options might be to use a compost mixture or different types of fertilizers, chemical and organic.
  3. Divide the class into groups of four and assign each group a nutrient treatment.
  4. To start your Fast Plant system, begin by putting the given wicks (included in the kit) into the holes at the base of the styrofoam quads. If you run out of wicks, you may also use felt scraps. 
  5. Fill the quad with a potting mix (be sure to find one without nutrients added) halfway, placing the fertilizer pellets in the soil. An easy way to disseminate fertilizer pellets and seeds is to take a piece of masking tape and stick the fertilizer and seeds on the tape and let the students roll off what they need. 
  6. Finish filling the cell with potting mix and gently place 2-3 seeds on the top of the soil in each section of the quad. Each student might be responsible for planting one cell within the quad. Take a pencil and gently push the seed under the soil, burying only slightly. 
  7. Fast plants are designed to grow the best under continuous fluorescent lights, like on a grow cart. Fast plants will do okay under less optimal conditions, but place them in a sunny location.
  8. The students should write down what they did to set up the experiment (materials and methods) and determine how often and what they would like to collect data on. Data could include (but not limited to):
    1. Number of seeds germinated
    2. Height
    3. The number of leaves (Hint: when counting leaves, mark the counted leaf with a marker, easy to track newly unfurled leaves.)
    4. Number of flowers
    5. Leaf width
    6. Number of fruit pods
    7. General observations (Are there holes or dots in the leaves?)
  9. As the plants grow, students should carefully observe and record their observations in a science journal. See the data collection sheet that came with the Fast Plant Kit for more specific ideas.

Impact of Pollination on Seed Production

The number of seeds produced by a plant is directly related to the number of flowers a plant produces (flower production is determined by environmental conditions, nutrients, light quality, moisture levels, temperature), and how the flowers are pollinated. When the plants’ flower, the students can play the role of the pollinator and transfer pollen from one flower’s stamens to another flower’s pistil. Set aside a group of plants that will not be pollinated and count the number of seeds produced. Often even without intentional pollinating, flowers will rub against each other and spread pollen. If you want to prevent this, try to separate plants as much as possible. Plant scientists will actually remove stamens to prevent pollination.

Compare the number of seeds from pollinated flowers to the unpollinated flowers. Relate this back to the Plants and Pollinators lesson and ask students how pollination occurs in nature and how plants attract pollinators to ensure seed development.

Setting up the Fast Plant Experiment

This video by the Durham County Extension Master Gardeners  is good for teachers to learn how to set up your fast plant experiments.

Setting up the Fast Plant Experiment – For Students

This video by the Wisconsin Fast Plants team is a visual overview of how to get started with setting up your fast plant experiment.

Fast Plant Growth Observations

This video is intended as a review for teachers to remind you of the different ways to measure fast plant growth.

Pollinating Fast Plants

Watch how to pollinate fast plant flowers and how to harvest their seeds.

Plant Growth Experiment Handouts

Use these student handouts to guide the development of a hypothesis and to collect data as the fast plants begin to grow and develop.

Digging Deeper

Instructions
  1. Once the experiments are completed, project the data collection chart for the class. 
  2. Tell the students they will be working together in their groups to compare what they found. 
  3. Start with the first few questions on the Plant Growth Experiment “Explain Data” worksheet as examples. 
  4. Have the students complete the remaining questions and once they have finished, ask each group to present its findings to the whole class and encourage discussion of how the results might impact how they would grow plants in their own garden. 
  5. Follow up with additional questions to encourage students to examine their experience. What did you learn today that you will be able to use at school? At home? What did you learn about your own skill in communicating with others? What are some other situations when you will need to use the skills you learned today?
Explain Data Handout

Provide this handout to your students so they can reflect on the results of their experiment.

Optional Activity: The Plant Life Cycle Play

Have the students act out the life cycle of a plant. The teacher can be the gardener and pretend to water the seeds and call out directives for growth. Begin by having each student pretending to be the seed of their favorite plant. Have a few students volunteer what they are. Create a storyline as you go. The rain is falling (plants grow), the sun is shining (more growth), blooms unfurl (time for them to pollinate each other), the temperature is dropping, a frost comes along (some plants may die, others live through another year).

Assessment

Journal Entries for a Scientist – Instructions

Journal entries are a creative way for students to summarize the findings of their experiment. It enables you to assess the accuracy and completeness of their ideas. It is more informal than a traditional scientific report and allows the students to combine their creative thinking with scientific understanding.

Have the students complete the Plant Growth Journal worksheet to give to students. Students with less fluent writing skills may prefer to do a ‘Captain’s Log’ and include shorter sentences, so their ideas are judged, not their writing ability. Encourage students to include drawings and rich descriptions of their experiment

Plant Growth Journal

Use this journal template to encourage your students to write about their plant growth experiment observations.

Beyond the Garden Gate: Activities to do at home

Track the arrival of wildflowers around your home, beginning in spring and finishing in the fall. Keep a small notebook and as you go on hikes through the woods and meadows, note the flowers that emerge. Are the same plants flowering in the woods during the spring, also flowering in the late summer? Why do you think some plants grow better at different times of the year?

photo of flame azaleas in north carolina

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